Modular rearview mirror assembly

ABSTRACT

A vehicle rearview mirror comprises a carrier plate, an electronic component unit mounted on one face of the carrier plate, and a mirror mounted on the other face of the carrier plate. A protective housing is supported by the carrier plate, the housing exposing the mirror through a viewing aperture and enclosing the electronic component unit and carrier plate. A support bracket assembly extends from the carrier plate through the housing to mount the mirror assembly to an interior surface of a vehicle. The electronic component unit preferably includes a card reader having a card slot exposed by the housing. In another embodiment, an RF antenna is connected to circuitry included in the electronic component, the antenna preferably being mounted in the support bracket assembly. In yet another embodiment, a visual display is provided for displaying information provided by the electronic component unit.

This invention relates to rearview mirror assemblies, such as are usedin vehicles.

The conventional design of rearview mirror includes a bracket and amirror mounted in the housing and protected at its periphery by a bezelmounted to the housing.

In recent years, manufacturers have added a range of extra features tomirrors, many of which include electronic components and which imposeadditional considerations on the design of the mirror.

For example, electrochromic mirrors are known which change thereflectivity of the mirror in response to differences between ambientlight and incident light on the mirror. In this way, the mirror can becaused to reduce glare when very bright incident light from a followingvehicle's headlights is detected at night-time (when ambient lightlevels are low). Such mirrors require sensors and control circuitrywhich must be fitted into the housing and supported by the housing.

Many other added features have been proposed for incorporation in therearview mirror, and indeed it is commonly proposed to use the mirrorfor retrofitting optional extras to a vehicle or to incorporate newfeatures in production models of vehicles since the mirror is astand-alone item which can be easily substituted without impacting onother aspects of the vehicle production. One example of such a proposalhas been to add electronic toll collection (ETC) modules to a rearviewmirror.

ETC is an automatic toll collection system for toll roads. It wasdeveloped with the objective of easing traffic congestion at tollbooths, providing improved convenience through cashless transactions andreducing administration costs. Through the wireless transmission of theinformation necessary for toll calculation between the vehicle unit andthe toll booth antenna, the toll charges can be automatically withdrawnfrom a user's card (which can be a prepaid toll card or a bank or creditcard).

The ETC equipment which resides in the vehicles is generally availableas an after market option. It incorporates a card reader andtransmitting antenna as well as supporting electronics. Theseafter-market products are generally installed in the cabin in anappropriate location i.e. on dashboard, adjacent to the centre consoleetc. Incorporating the ETC module in the mirror has been previouslyproposed but has not been commercially achieved due to the difficulty ofproviding an assembly which is sufficiently ergonomic, lightweight, andnot overly bulky.

Adding extra components to a rearview mirror increases the weight of themirror not only due to the weight of the components themselves, but alsodue to the added weight and bulk of the housing. For each additionalcomponent to be supported by the housing, the thickness of the housing(which is generally a moulded shell) must be increased, leading to addedhousing weight also.

With increased weight, the vibration frequency of the mirror assemblytends to be lowered, and this can lead to vibration-induced damage tocomponents of the mirror, in particular to electronic components whoseconnections can be broken or loosened by vibrations.

A more fundamental problem with vibrations in mirrors is that the imageclarity suffers and the user may be unable to clearly see using themirror, which poses a very significant safety problem.

A further difficulty in providing additional mirror components is thateach car manufacturer will have individual styling and dimensionalrequirements. Since the housing, bezel and mirror surface are theprimary visible components of a standard mirror, redesign of the housingfor aesthetic reasons can impact on the entire internal arrangement ofcomponents, causing a redesign of the whole mirror assembly.

The invention has as an aim the provision of an improved rearview mirrorassembly particularly adapted for use with electronic toll collectionsystems, although not limited thereto, and in particular an assemblywhich can include additional internal ETC components with minimalredesign and whose external appearance can be more easily altered.

Accordingly, the invention provides a vehicle rearview mirror assemblycomprising a carrier plate, an electronic component unit mounted on oneface of the carrier plate, a mirror mounted on the other face of thecarrier plate, a protective housing supported by the carrier plate, thehousing exposing the mirror through a viewing aperture and enclosing theelectronic component unit and carrier plate, and a support bracketassembly extending from the carrier plate through the housing, whereinthe support bracket assembly is adapted to mount the mirror assembly toan interior surface of a vehicle and support the weight of the assemblyvia the carrier plate, and wherein the electronic component unitincludes a card reader having a card slot exposed by the housing.

The rearview mirror assembly of the invention provides a significantadvantage over known rearview mirror assemblies, in that the carrierplate provides a load-bearing chassis directly connected to the supportbracket and on which the other components including the card reader canbe assembled, which avoids the necessity of mounting the mirrorcomponents to the housing. When the housing is used as the chassis, thethickness and weight of the housing in its entirety must be increased,which worsens vibration problems and ultimately imposes a limit on howmuch equipment can be incorporated in a commercially acceptable mirror.

Using the present invention the housing, conventionally comprising abezel surrounding the periphery of the mirror and a case fitted to therear of the bezel, can be a lightweight skin and need not provide anysignificant support strength. Furthermore, since the housing is not astructural support member onto which other components are mounted, itcan be easily changed for different designs to meet aesthetic orergonomic requirements of different manufacturers.

In a preferred embodiment the housing has an external surface with awindow therein, the carrier plate has an externally visible surfaceportion partially occluding the window and providing a card introductionsurface, and the card slot is immediately adjacent the card introductionsurface, whereby the leading edge of a card slidably moved along thecard introduction surface of the carrier plate is guided to the cardslot.

As will be described further below, this construction of rearview mirrorassembly allows an ergonomic interface for introducing a card to theslot, while simplifying the provision of a single piece housing design,due to the use of the card introduction surface provided on the carrierplate. The shape of the housing itself can be simplified to enableefficient and low-cost moulding techniques to be employed in itsconstruction, with the more complex shape of the card introductionsurface being incorporated in the carrier plate. When the carrier plateand housing are assembled together, they together provide an exteriorsurface which facilitates the introduction of a card to the slot withoutrequiring the driver of a vehicle to be distracted from driving.

There is also provided, as a separate and independent invention, avehicle rearview mirror assembly comprising a mirror, an electroniccomponent unit, a protective housing exposing the mirror through aviewing aperture and enclosing the electronic component unit, an RFantenna connected to the electronic component unit, and a supportbracket assembly adapted to mount the mirror assembly to an interiorsurface of a vehicle, wherein the RF antenna is mounted in the supportbracket assembly.

There is also provided, as a still further separate and independentinvention, a vehicle rearview mirror assembly comprising a mirror, anelectronic component unit, a protective housing exposing the mirrorthrough a viewing aperture and enclosing the electronic component unit,an RF antenna connected to the electronic component unit, and a supportbracket assembly adapted to mount the mirror assembly to an interiorsurface of a vehicle, the mirror assembly further including a visualdisplay for displaying information provided by said electronic componentunit.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example,with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a vehicle interior rearview mirrorassembly according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the mirror assembly of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the internal components of the mirrorassembly of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3A is an enlarged view of the bracket and antenna.

FIG. 4 shows the mounting of the bracket baseplate to the carrier plateof the assembly of FIG. 1, with the electronics circuitry unit omitted.

FIG. 5 shows an interior detail of the mirror case including a mount foran ambient light sensor.

FIG. 6 shows the electrochromic mirror control board forming part of themirror assembly.

FIG. 7 shows a detail of the mirror case including an LED.

FIG. 8 shows a detail of the mirror case including the card slot of acard reader.

FIG. 9 shows interior of the mirror case in the region of the card slot.

FIG. 10 shows the mirror case, card reader and card introduction surfacein cross-section along the line X in FIG. 8.

FIG. 11 shows the mirror case, card reader and card introduction surfacein cross-section along the line XI in FIG. 8.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a rearview mirror assembly 10 havingan electrochromic mirror 12 of known construction behind a bezel 14defining a viewing aperture, with the bezel 14 having a lightweight case16 connected thereto. A ball and socket-type support bracket assembly 18protrudes from the case through an opening 20 for affixing the mirrorassembly 10 to a windscreen. A glare sensor 22 at the front of themirror detects the intensity of incident light on the mirror, and acorresponding ambient light sensor is located in a recess 24 (see FIG.2) on the windscreen-facing portion of the case 16.

Also shown in FIG. 2 is a card slot 26 for receiving a card such as acredit card or prepaid toll card. The card slot is the mouth of a cardreader 48, FIG. 3, of conventional type which receives the card andelectronically or magnetically reads information encoded thereon. Thecase 16 has a concave recess 28 adjacent the slot 26, and the slot 26has a corresponding scalloped shape. The recess 28 is interrupted by theslot 26 but continues into surface 100 as shown in FIG. 8 and describedmore fully below. This arrangement of the recess in both surfaces eitherside of the slot and the scalloped slot itself, allows a user's thumb topush the card home into the card reader. The card is ejected from thereader using an eject button 30 which extends when a card is present andwhich when depressed actuates an eject mechanism.

FIG. 3 shows the internal components of the assembly in exploded view.The core structural component of the assembly is a carrier plate 32 onone face of which there is mounted an electrochromic mirror unit 34 bymeans of an adhesive tape 36. The electrochromic mirror unit is of atype well known in the art which can reduce the amount of reflectedlight under the control of a control unit mounted on a printed circuitboard (PCB) 38. PCB 38 is mounted on the carrier plate also. Thoughshown in a position to be mounted on the opposite face to theelectrochromic mirror unit, it can be mounted on the same face of thecarrier plate as the mirror unit.

A smaller display PCB 40 mounts on the carrier plate and has aprotruding display block 42 which sits in a recess 44 on top of thecarrier plate. When the mirror is assembled, the front face of thisdisplay block (not visible in FIG. 3) provides a visual display ofsystem parameters in a window 46 provided in the front of the mirrorassembly housing (see FIG. 1). Such a display might, for example, showthe amount deducted from a toll card or credit card by the card readerand associated ETC circuitry mounted on an electronic component unit 50,FIG. 3, when the vehicle passes through an electronic toll booth system.Alternatively, diagnostic or system circuitry may be present on the unit50 or elsewhere in the mirror assembly which displays status or errormessages through the display block when the mirror systems are beingdiagnosed or maintained. The display PCB 40 is provided with displaydriver circuitry which can display suitable information from any systemto which it is connected. Alternative or additional visual display aidsand cues can be provided on the exterior of the mirror, such as LEDwarning or status lights.

The display can be omitted from the mirror entirely, and displayfunctions and the human-machine interface removed to a differentlocation in the vehicle, with appropriate signals being passed to orfrom the electronics and systems in the mirror assembly. For example,the interface for an ETC system may be advantageously incorporated intoan onboard navigation or computer system, which will have a moresophisticated display to provide information about transaction history,credit remaining, tolls due on a particular route, and lane layoutsleading to a toll booth.

Other options for housing the interface electronics are an overheadconsole or an accessory module on a windscreen mount, such as isdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,243,003 to DeLine et al. (assigned toDonnelly Corporation), the contents of which are incorporated herein byreference.

Apart from moving the display to other locations in the cabin (or evento remote locations, such as allowing a fleet manager to interact withthe credit and toll history functions of the ETC system), any of theother individual electronic components described herein may be removedfrom the mirror to another cabin location or a remote location asappropriate.

The card reader 48 as described above is provided on the electroniccomponent unit 50 which also includes an ETC module, an RF amplifier foramplifying received RF signals, and other system circuitry. The cardreader 48 and other components of the electronic circuitry unit 50 areencased in a rigid metal casing 108 for electronic static dischargecontrol and electromagnetic shielding purposes (see also FIGS. 10 and11). To decrease weight the metal casing can be replaced by a plasticcasing with a metallised casing, or if discharge protection andshielding are not considered vital, the casing can be omittedaltogether.

However, by employing a rigid casing for the electronic circuitry unit50 and sandwiching the carrier plate 32 between the electronic circuitryunit 50 and the electrochromic mirror unit 24, a strong but relativelylightweight carrier plate can be employed. These three componentsprovide a rigid sandwich which carries a large portion of the weight ofthe mirror. Increasing the rigidity of this sub-assembly tends toincrease the natural vibration frequency of the mirror assembly makingit less susceptible to vibration-induced damage from the relatively lowfrequency vibrations experienced in the environment of a car or othervehicle.

The carrier plate 32 provides mounting points 52 for four correspondingmounting points 54 on a moulded plastics socket member 56 of the bracketassembly 18. The socket member 56 thus mounts directly onto the carrierplate 32, and a metal bracket 58 connects to the socket member 56 via aconventional ball and socket arrangement 60. The bracket 58 has amounting area 59 (see especially FIG. 2) adapted to be fixed to aso-called mounting button (not shown) fixed to the vehicle header or atthe top of the vehicle windscreen in known manner.

A remote keyless entry (RKE) PCB 62 is mounted below the baseplate toreceive coded signals and communicate with the central locking system ofthe vehicle to unlock the doors.

Referring also to FIG. 3A, an ETC antenna located in a protectivehousing 64 is mounted in a recess 66 in the front of the bracket 58(i.e. the side facing the windscreen in use) and provides RF signals toand from the ETC circuitry in the electronic circuitry unit 50 via awire harness (not shown) passing through the open bore of the socket 60.Mounting the ETC unit in the mirror, and particularly using the bracketas a mounting point for the antenna provides significant advantages forreliability of the ETC technology. As compared with aftermarketsolutions, the mirror-mounted ETC provides a standardised locationoptimally suited to communicate with overhead electronic toll boothunits as the vehicle approaches the booth. In an aftermarket solution,the strength and direction of the signal from the antenna is dependenton the user's choice of location. Furthermore, RF signals are attenuatedminimally when the antenna is adjacent to the windscreen glass, unlikewhen it is on the dashboard or elsewhere in the cabin.

A case surface plug 68 closes the case opening which receives thebracket assembly (see also FIG. 1), though this plug can be incorporatedas an integral extension piece extending back from the mirror bezel.Either solution allows the bezel and case to be connected together in asimple manner around the internal components. In the embodiment shown,the bezel mounts on the carrier plate, with the case connecting to thebezel, although the opposite could be the case. The bezel and case arethus not structurally important items but rather are provided as a skinaround the structural mirror assembly.

It will be appreciated that this allows a different design of case to besubstituted to meet the demands of different manufacturers withoutredesigning either the carrier plate/mirror/electronics subassembly orthe bracket sub-assembly.

Furthermore, the invention provides a modular assembly in which thecarrier plate/mirror/electronics subassembly can be made in a firstlocation, and the bracket sub-assembly, complete with wire harness, canbe made in a second location. Then these sub-assemblies can be shippedto the final destination for a relatively unskilled and quick finalassembly process with the connectors being plugged in, the baseplatefixed on the carrier plate, and the “cosmetic skin” of the bezel andcase attached.

FIG. 4 shows the mounting of the bracket baseplate 56 to the carrierplate 32, with the electronics circuitry unit 50 omitted for clarity. Itcan be seen that the display PCB 40 is sandwiched between the baseplateand the carrier plate with a set of rubber grommets 70 cushioning thePCB against compressive forces imparted from the screws used to hold thecomponents together. This is advantageous also in that no additionalfixing points or components are needed for the display PCB, as it takesadvantage of the mounting between the baseplate and carrier plate forits own mounting to the carrier plate.

This view also shows at one end of the carrier plate a raised cardintroduction feature 72 which facilitates the introduction of a card tothe card reader, as will be explained more fully below.

The electronics circuitry unit 50 is held between the carrier plate 32and the socket member 56, which provide support to the components in theelectronics circuitry unit. Generally, the first board in theelectronics circuitry unit may be mounted to the carrier plate, andadditional boards connected to the first board in a layeredconfiguration using board-to-board connectors. By then adding thebaseplate outside the final board, the structure is supported andstrains on the board-to-board connectors are relieved.

As indicated previously with reference to FIG. 2, the ambient lightsensor is located in a recess on the windscreen facing surface of thecase. FIG. 5 shows a detail of the case interior with the recess seen inFIG. 2 shown as a conical formation 74. A pair of fingers 76 extend intothe interior of the case from the conical formation 74 and a very smallsection of a PCB 78 is clipped into these fingers, which resilientlytrap a widened bulge 80 on each lateral edge 82 of the PCB 78 behind aridge 84. The legs 86 of the light sensitive diode employed to measureambient light can be seen protruding from the back of the PCB 78 and aflexible lead 88 extends from the small PCB back to the electrochromicmirror control PCB 38 to pass signals indicative of the measured ambientlight from the diode (this lead and the small PCB section 78 are notshown in FIG. 2 for clarity). The triangular aspect of the ridge 84 canbe formed by moulding the fingers and subsequently machining away asmall quantity of finger material from the interior side of the case andthe exterior side of the case (through the conical formation).

FIG. 6 shows the electrochromic mirror control board 38 schematicallyafter manufacture and before assembly in the mirror assembly. The board38 includes the small section 78 after manufacture. The boundary 90 ofthe small PCB section 78 is weakened by a router or other means to allowsmall section 78 to be snapped away from the main board 38 with theflexible lead and the ambient light measuring diode 92 intact. Thus,board 38 can be supplied as a unitary piece from the electronicsfabrication plant, and in the mirror assembly plant the small section issnapped off the main board and clipped into place in the housing. Thisconstruction and assembly method is particularly advantageous forrelatively large mirror cases where it is impractical to use a lightsensor directly mounted on the board 38 to measure light at a surface ofthe case due to the distance from the board to the surface of the case.

A further innovative feature is shown in FIG. 7, which shows theunderside of the case 16. A translucent coloured plastics cover 94 isaffixed to the case as a display device. An LED 96 mounted on the RKEPCB 62 (FIG. 3) extends into this cover, and when the alarm isactivated, flashes as a warning. The cover can be removed as shown toreveal a data socket (not shown) for a jack mounted on a lead. This datasocket can be connected to diagnostic systems or programmable circuitsin the electronics circuitry unit 50, allowing the mirror systems to beserviced, diagnosed or upgraded by passing suitable electronic signalsto the circuits and optionally monitoring the responses received backthrough the socket or appearing on the display 42.

As an alternative to the use of a “stereo jack” type connection fordiagnostic and maintenance purposes, the translucent cap may cover aninfrared transceiver, and signals may thus be passed wirelessly from themirror circuitry to the external testing, diagnostic, maintenance orupdating equipment using infrared data exchange protocols.

FIG. 8 shows a further detail of the case 16, i.e. the side of the casewith the recess 28 (see also FIGS. 2 and 3) allowing a card to beinserted in the card slot 26 of the card reader 48. A window 98 in theexternal surface of the case 16 provides access to the card reader 48.As mentioned above, however, a card introduction feature 72 (FIG. 4) isprovided on the carrier plate, and this feature has an external surfaceportion 100 partially occluding the window 98 to provide a cardintroduction surface.

The leading edge of a card slidably moved along the card introductionsurface 100 of the carrier plate is guided to the card slot allowing adriver to insert a card with minimal distraction (it should beappreciated that the card introduction surface and card slot are notvisible from the front (mirror side) of the mirror assembly, mainly foraesthetic reasons, and thus the driver should be able to insert the cardby feel.

The lateral extremities of the card introduction surface can be bevelledto provide a discontinuity laterally between the card introductionsurface and the case. This allows the user to locate the side edge ofthe card against the side of the slot. Instead of bevelling the cardintroduction surface, one could also design a step or otherdiscontinuity between the card introduction surface and the case.

FIG. 9 shows the same detail of the carrier plate 32 when the case 16 isremoved. The card reader 48 is seen extending from the end of the metalcasing 108 for the electronics circuitry unit, and a card 104 is pushedfully home into the card reader, with the trailing edge of the cardvisible beyond the scalloped cut-out at the mouth of the slot of thecard reader.

The card introduction surface 100 of the carrier plate 32 is designed tobe substantially continuous with the exterior surface of the case. Thisallows the case to be brought onto the bezel mounted on the carrierplate directly without manoeuvring the parts, which would otherwise benecessary if the card introduction surface were in the exterior surfaceof the case. To see why this is so, one need only consider the cardejection button which protrudes past the card introduction surface.Furthermore, if reference is made to FIG. 8, it can be seen that the gapor slot between the card introduction surface and the case which admitsthe card to the slot is formed in a direction parallel to thebezel-engaging rim of the case. To form this gap or slot in a singlepiece case using injection moulding would require a far more complexmould since the gap or slot runs transverse to the direction in whichthe case would be ejected from the mould.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show the case 16, card reader 48 and card introductionsurface 100 in cross section along the lines indicated as X and XI inFIG. 8. In FIG. 10 it can be seen that the card protrudes slightly pastthe scalloped cut-out 106 at the front of reader 48, so that the usercan easily push the card to this position by taking advantage of therecess 28 in the case 16 and the flush mating of the card introductionsurface 100 with the front of the card reader 48.

FIG. 10 also shows that the card reader's front surface is flush withthe front surface of the card introduction surface at the point wherethe cross-section is taken. This means that the card reader overhangsthe material behind the card introduction surface and is a furtherreason why a one-piece case would prevent the carrier plate and casebeing brought into engagement directly (i.e. it can be seen that thecard reader would need to be manoeuvred past the card introductionsurface with great difficulty if the card introduction surface were partof the case rather than being provided on the carrier plate.

In FIG. 11, in contrast, the card 104 is seen to be fully received inthe reader 48, as there is no scalloped cut-out at this point on thecard slot, and the reader is concealed by the case and the cardintroduction surface 100. Thus, a card whose leading edge is pushedalong and up the card introduction surface 100 will be directed easilyinto the card reader.

The card reader can be omitted in assemblies according to the inventionand replaced by a card swipe mechanism, with the case providing a slitto reveal the swipe path of the card through the swipe mechanism.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein whichmay be modified or varied without departing from the scope of theinvention.

1. A vehicle rearview mirror assembly comprising a carrier plate, anelectronic component unit mounted on one face of the carrier plate, amirror mounted on the other face of the carrier plate, a protectivehousing supported by the carrier plate, the housing exposing the mirrorthrough a viewing aperture and enclosing the electronic component unitand carrier plate, and a support bracket assembly extending from thecarrier plate through the housing, wherein the support bracket assemblyis adapted to mount the mirror assembly to an interior surface of avehicle and support the weight of the assembly via the carrier plate,and wherein the electronic component unit includes a card reader havinga card slot exposed by the housing.
 2. A rearview mirror assemblyaccording to claim 1, wherein the housing has an external surface with awindow therein, the carrier plate has an externally visible surfaceportion partially occluding the window and providing a card introductionsurface, and the card slot is immediately adjacent the card introductionsurface, whereby the leading edge of a card slidably moved along thecard introduction surface of the carrier plate is guided to the cardslot.
 3. A rearview mirror assembly according to claim 2, wherein theelectronic component unit includes electronic toll collection (ETC)circuitry connected to the card reader.
 4. A review mirror assemblyaccording to claim 3, further including an RF antenna connected to theETC circuitry.
 5. A rearview mirror assembly according to claim 4,wherein the RF antenna is mounted in the support bracket assembly.
 6. Arearview mirror assembly according to claim 5, further including avisual display for displaying electronic toll collection (ETC)information.
 7. A rearview mirror assembly according to claim 6, whereinthe visual display is driven by circuitry mounted on the carrier plateand is visible through an aperture in the front of the housing.
 8. Arearview mirror assembly according to claim 7, wherein the housingcomprises a bezel surrounding the periphery of the mirror to define theviewing aperture and a case connected to the bezel and enclosing theelectronic component unit and carrier plate, one of the bezel and thecase being mounted to the carrier plate.
 9. A rearview mirror assemblyaccording to claim 1 further including an RF antenna and a visualdisplay for displaying information provided by the electronic componentunit, wherein the electronic component unit is adapted to receivetraffic information via the RF antenna and display such information onthe visual display.
 10. A rearview mirror assembly according to claim 1further including an RF antenna and a visual display for displayinginformation provided by the electronic component unit, wherein theelectronic component unit is adapted to receive electronic tollcollection (ETC) information via the RF antenna and display suchinformation on the visual display.
 11. A vehicle rearview mirrorassembly comprising a mirror, an electronic component unit, a protectivehousing exposing the mirror through a viewing aperture and enclosing theelectronic component unit, an RF antenna connected to the electroniccomponent unit, and a support bracket assembly adapted to mount themirror assembly to an interior surface of a vehicle, wherein the RFantenna is mounted in the support bracket assembly, and wherein theelectronic component unit is mounted on one face of a carrier plate andthe mirror is mounted on the other face of the carrier plate, theprotective housing being supported by the carrier plate and the supportbracket assembly extending through the housing from the carrier plate,whereby the support bracket assembly is adapted to support the weight ofthe assembly via the carrier plate.
 12. A rearview mirror assemblyaccording to claim 11, wherein the housing comprises a bezel surroundingthe periphery of the mirror to define the viewing aperture and a caseconnected to the bezel and enclosing the electronic component unit andcarrier plate, one of the bezel and the case being mounted to thecarrier plate.
 13. A rearview mirror assembly according to claim 12,further including a visual display for displaying information providedby said electronic component unit.
 14. A rearview mirror assemblyaccording to claim 13, wherein the visual display is visible through anaperture in the front of the housing.
 15. A rearview mirror assemblyaccording to claim 14, wherein the electronic component unit is adaptedto receive traffic information via the RF antenna and display suchinformation on the visual display.
 16. A rearview mirror assemblyaccording to claim 15, wherein the electronic component unit is adaptedto receive electronic toll collection (ETC) information via the RFantenna and display such information on the visual display.
 17. Arearview mirror assembly according to claim 11, further including avisual display for displaying information provided by said electroniccomponent unit.
 18. A rearview mirror assembly according to claim 17,wherein the electronic component unit is adapted to receive trafficinformation via the RF antenna and display such information on thevisual display.
 19. A rearview mirror assembly according to claim 13,wherein the electronic component unit is adapted to receive electronictoll collection (ETC) information via the RF antenna and display suchinformation on the visual display.
 20. A vehicle rearview mirrorassembly comprising a mirror, an electronic component unit, a protectivehousing exposing the mirror through a viewing aperture and enclosing theelectronic component unit, an RF antenna connected to the electroniccomponent unit, and a support bracket assembly adapted to mount themirror assembly to an interior surface of a vehicle, the mirror assemblyfurther including a visual display for displaying information providedby said electronic component unit, wherein the visual display is visiblethrough an aperture in the front of the housing, the electroniccomponent unit is adapted to receive electronic toll collection (ETC)information via the RF antenna and display such information on thevisual display, and the electronic component unit is mounted on one faceof a carrier plate and the mirror is mounted on the other face of thecarrier plate, the protective housing being supported by the carrierplate and the support bracket assembly extending through the housingfrom the carrier plate, whereby the support bracket assembly is adaptedto support the weight of the assembly via the carrier plate.
 21. Arearview mirror assembly according to claim 20, wherein the housingcomprises a bezel surrounding the periphery of the mirror to define theviewing aperture and a case connected to the bezel and enclosing theelectronic component unit and carrier plate, one of the bezel and thecase being mounted to the carrier plate.
 22. A vehicle rearview mirrorassembly comprising a carrier plate, an electronic component unitmounted on one face of the carrier plate, a mirror mounted on the otherface of the carrier plate, a protective housing supported by the carrierplate, the housing exposing the mirror through a viewing aperture andenclosing the electronic component unit and carrier plate, and a supportbracket assembly extending from the carrier plate through the housing,wherein the support bracket assembly is adapted to mount the mirrorassembly to an interior surface of a vehicle and support the weight ofthe assembly via the carrier plate, wherein the electronic componentunit includes a card reader having a card slot exposed by the housing,and wherein the electronic component unit includes electronic tollcollection (ETC) circuitry connected to the card reader.
 23. A rearviewmirror assembly according to claim 22, further including a visualdisplay for displaying electronic toll collection (ETC) information. 24.A vehicle rearview mirror assembly comprising a carrier plate, anelectronic component unit mounted on one face of the carrier plate, amirror mounted on the other face of the carrier plate, a protectivehousing supported by the carrier plate, the housing exposing the mirrorthrough a viewing aperture and enclosing the electronic component unitand carrier plate, and a support bracket assembly extending from thecarrier plate through the housing, wherein the support bracket assemblyis adapted to mount the mirror assembly to an interior surface of avehicle and support the weight of the assembly via the carrier plate,wherein the electronic component unit includes a card reader having acard slot exposed by the housing, and wherein the housing comprises abezel surrounding the periphery of the mirror to define the viewingaperture and a case connected to the bezel and enclosing the electroniccomponent unit and carrier plate, one of the bezel and the case beingmounted to the carrier plate.
 25. A vehicle rearview mirror assemblycomprising a mirror, an electronic component unit, a protective housingexposing the mirror through a viewing aperture and enclosing theelectronic component unit, an RF antenna connected to the electroniccomponent unit, and a support bracket assembly adapted to mount themirror assembly to an interior surface of a vehicle, the mirror assemblyfurther including a visual display for displaying information providedby said electronic component unit, wherein the electronic component unitis mounted on one face of a carrier plate and the mirror is mounted onthe other face of the carrier plate, the protective housing beingsupported by the carrier plate and the support bracket assemblyextending through the housing from the carrier plate, whereby thesupport bracket assembly is adapted to support the weight of theassembly via the carrier plate.
 26. A rearview mirror assembly accordingto claim 25, wherein the visual display is visible through an aperturein the front of the housing.
 27. A rearview mirror assembly according toclaim 26, wherein the electronic component unit is adapted to receivetraffic information via the RF antenna and display such information onthe visual display.
 28. A rearview mirror assembly according to claim27, wherein the electronic component unit is adapted to receiveelectronic toll collection (ETC) information via the RF antenna anddisplay such information on the visual display.